Ice rink floor



March l13., 1945; F, W, KNOWLES 2,371,396

ICE RINK FLOOR Filed July 3o, 1941 I ///4 /06 m9 //3 L I l '0 Y l. /f ll HTTY,

Patented Mar. 13, 1945 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

l l 'l ,--as'uss lor: umn FLOOR Frank W. Knowles, Seattle, Wash.Application July 30, 1941,I Serial No. 404,671

(Cl. 'GZ-12) 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in the construction andoperation of an ice rink floor. More particularly itv relates toimprove` ments in the construction of a floor that may be used eitherfor ice skating, roller skating, dancing, conventions, or other obvioususes.

In the prior art, ice rink floors have had the refrigerant pipes laidover the floor,`and these pipes were removed when it was desired to 'usethel floor for other purposes. Such conversion was costly and timeconsuming. Other of the prior art floors had the pipes embedded inaIsectional or monolithic iioor usually composed of concrete. Such fioorswere costly and hard to construct. They were also prone to developcracks due to the unequal co-eicients of expansion of the metal pipesand the concrete;v and due to the drag of the slab on its supports as itevoanded and contracted.

The present invention eliminates many if not all of the defects of theprior art structures and achieves all of their desirable results.Applicants rink floor may be constructed in one section or severalsections secured together and floated on the refrigerant. Thiseliminates the use of pipes, prevents unequal expansion, eliminates thedrag as the floor floats, reduces the cost, obtains even distribution ofheat transfer, and has other desirable features, as will hereinafter beevident.

Having in mind these defects of the prior art,

it is an object of the present invention to construct an ice rink floorthat will be without pipes but which will oat upon the refrigerant.

erant is constrained between the oors by `means of suitable sealingmeansplace'd around the top floor at its margin. The refrigerant iscirculated by means of suitably placed conduits that connect withconventional refrigerating machinery.

lAs will be apparent from the following disclosure, thesev objects andothers are. attained, and` these. defectsremedied by means of thedevices and construction shown inthe accompanyingvdrawing, wherein: i f

` Figure 1 is a' perspective view, partly insection, of an icerinkembodying my invention. y

AFigure 2 is a fragment yof a perspective view,

l partly in'section, ofa modification of my invention. f

lIn Figure 1, there is shown a perspective View, partly in section, ofan ice rinkembodying one form of my invention. In thisview there isshown a top floor l made of reinforced concrete thathas around themargin an upstanding curbv 2." Secured to the curb is a fiat horizontalmarginalplate 3 made .of a light weight sheet of metal that will flexrelatively easily. vThis marginal plate `3 is secured to the curb by anysuitable means su'ch as the bolts 4. The plate extends across a sealingwell 5 or sump, that extends around the-top fioor. On the other side ofthis sump is the adjacent floor surface 6 to a which the marginal plate3 is secured as by bolts 1. If desirable the marginal 'plate may restupon gaskets 8 and-9 interposed between the plateand the curb 2 andtheadjacentiioor 6, respectively.

Another object of the present `invention is the provision of an ice rinkwith a subfloor supporting a top floor upon a refrigerant l containedtherebetween by the floors and a marginal seal.

Another object of the present invention is the Yconstruction of twosuperimposed floors adapted to have a refrigerant passed therebetween torefrigerate the top floor and make it usable as an ice rink.

A further object of the present invention is the construction of an icerink floor that will be without pipes. l

A further object of the present invention is the provision of sealingmeans for the margin of a floating floor.

A further object of the present invention the provision of a floatingfloor. l

These defects of the prior art have been remedied and these objectsattained by the construction of a subfloor, and atop floor resting uponand supported by a refrigerating medium contained between the twofloors. The refrig- Suitable reinforcing means I0 maybe Placed in thetop iioor and curb.

-The top floor fioats upon a refrigerant Il which Vmay be the usualcalcium chloride brine or other similar refrigerant. The refrigerant mayeven be of thedirect expansion type, in which case the gaskets 8 and 9will be necessary. Underneath the refrigerant and the top oor is placeda concrete subfloor l2 that acts to support the top floor and. to aidinconstrainingthe refrigerantagainst loss.y The subfloor has amarginalwall which is spaced from the curb 2 to form the sump 5, and toV connectthe subfloor with the adjacent floor surface 6. In the middle of thesubfioor and longitudinally thereof is formed va distributing trough |3-into which is led by suitable pipes I4 the incomingl refrigerant.

From thisdistributin'g troughltlie refrigerant flows outwardly to themargins of the top floor where it is collected in thesump and returnedSto the refrigerating machine thru the overflow pipes I5. -Thedepthof-the refrigerant in the sump is determined by the height of theover'ow openings I6, or by other suitable means. This height determinesthe distance which the top floor will be spaced from the subfloor, and,hence, the refrigerant space between the floors. The sump may be drainedby means of suitable pipes I1 opening from the bottom of the sump. Thesubfloor may be placed upon a bed of insulating material I8 such ascinders, cinder concrete, or other suitable means. The device may restdirectly upon the ground, but it may be placed any Where in a building.The device has been shown with a layer of ice 20 suitable for skating,covering the floor.

The operation of the device disclosed in Fig ure 1 is as follows. In acondition in which the top iioor rests directly upon the subfloor andnov refrigerant is contained therebetween, the margina] plate 3 Will befound to have its inner portion flexed downwardly. As the refrigerant isdelivered between the floors thru the supply pipes, I4 and thelongitudinal trough I3, the sump 5 will gradually ll and the top floorwill float on the refrigerant. The height to which the floor will risewill be determined by the position ofthe openings I6 in the overflowpipes I5. A The movement of the top floor is normal to its surface, thatis, at a right angle to the surface. The structure may be so designedthat the marginal plate 3 is level when the device is being used as arink and has a layer of ice thereon, or it may slope upward and inwardunder this condition. The Water for forming ice 20 may be placed on thefloor prior to refrigerating the floor or it may be placed onthereafter. If placed on thereafter, it will be found that the floor hasarisen above the desired level but will return as the water is added toits surface. It will be found that the space between the floors need notbe over an inc h and probably only about half that, even for largefloors sixty to one hundred feet in width. From this it will be seenthat the movement of the floor will be small. To reduce strain upon themarginal plate 3, it need not be secured in place by the bolts 4 and I.This plate need not be sealed if a brine is used for refrigerating.

If a direct expansion system is used, the modication shown in Figure 2is preferable. In this figure is shown a top floor I I a marginal plateI 03, bolts |04 and I 0'I securing the plate to the top floor and theadjacent floor |06. The marginal plate bridges a sump I05. Also bridgingthe sump and connecting the top floor and the adjacent floor is aflexible metal or rubber seal |08 that has longitudinally thereof abellows |09, or corrugation. One edge of this seal is embedded in thetop floor and one edge in the adjacent floor. Liquid refrigerant isdelivered between the top floor and the suboor I I2 thru the pipes II4and the trough II3. The gas is Aremoved thru the pipe IIS. To reduce thedistance which the two floors need to separate to allow for proper flowof the refrigerant, the. under side of the top floor, or the top side ofthe subfloor, is transversely corrugated to form passageways for therefrigerant. In fact, using these corrugations, a device similar to thedevices shown in the drawing might be constructed with the expectationthat `no movement of one floor away from the other. would occur. In thelatter instance the two floors might be secured together thru out thearea. If one of the floors is formed with corrugations, a form would beleft in place. This form would be corrugated if on the underside oftheptop floor, or ilat if the corrugations were on the top of thesuboor.

The operation of the device shown in Figure 2 would be similar to thatshown in Figure 1. An advantage of the device shown in Figure 2 is thatthe refrigerated surface may be level with that of the adjacent floor.This means that the water for the ice must be added after the iioorA isrefrigerated to prevent the overflow of the adjacent fioor. Also, atemporary curb may be installed to prevent this overow. Also, thestructure may be so designed that the marginal plate is level when thetwo floors are in contact.

A construction somewhat similar to that shown in Figure 2 may be had bythe use of a liquid seal in place of .the mechanical seal |08. Such a ystructure would involve deepening the sump and placing a depending skirton the edge of the top 'floor to extend down into the sump. The sumpwould then be filled with a material such as water, oil, ethyleneglycol,or other liquid suitable forthe purpose, depending upon the refrigerantand the particular design. Such a seal is in common use in gas andoilstorage tanks. In the' following claims wherethe refrigerant or heattransfer medium is described as being under pressure, that pressure is,of course, measured at the surface of the medium in under the marginalseal.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An ice rink iioor, comprising: a subfloor, a top floor placed oversaid subfloor and forming therebetween a sump, a marginal plateconnecting said floors, and a flexible vapor tight seal secured betweenand to said top floor and said subfloor. l 2. An ice rinkoorpcomprising: a subfloor, a top floor placed over said subfloor andforming therebetween a sump, a marginal plate connecting said floors,and means marginally of said top floor and over said sump for securing avapor tight seal between said oors.

3. A heat transfer floor construction, comprising: a suboor, a top floorplaced over said suboor but free therefrom, a seal placed marginally ofsaid top floor and between said top iioor and said subfloor, the freedomof said top iioor and the nature of said seal allowing movement betweensaid oors, and means including the above elements for confining betweensaid floors a fluid heat transfer medium under a pressure above theatmospheric pressure on said top floor; whereby heat may be transferredbetween said'top iioor and said iluid medium, and at least a portion ofthe weight of said top floor may be carried by said uid medium to reducethe strains upon said top iioor caused by its deformation due totemperature changes.

4. A heat transfer floor construction, comprising: a subfloor, aconcrete top iloor placed over said subfloor but free therefrom, anadjacent :door connecting with said subfloor, said top floor and saidadjacent floor being so constructed that and adapted to have their upperfaces lie in the same plane, and a seal arrangedmarginally of said topiioor and between said top floor and the other floors, and meansincluding the above elements for confining a heat transfer fluid under apressure greater than atmospheric between said top floor and saidsubfloor whereby heat may be transferred between said top floor and saidfluid medium, and at least a portion of the weight of said topiloor maybe carried by said fluid medium ing: a subiioor, a concrete topfloorplaced over said subiioor but free therefrom, a seal placed marginallyof said topoor and ibetween said topiioorA and said subfloor, thefreedom of said topoor and the nature of said seal allowing movementbetween said oors, and means including the above elements for confiningbetween said floors a fluid heat transfer medium under a pressure abovethe atmospheric pressure on said topfioor; whereby heat may betransferred between said topiioor and said iiuid medium, and at least aportion of the weight of said topfloor may be carried by said fluidmedium to reduce the strain upon said topoor caused by its deformationdue to temperature changes.

6. A heat transfer floor construction, comprising: a subfloor, a`concrete topfloor placed over said subiioor but free therefrom, a sealplaced marginally of said topfioorand between said topfloor and saidsuboor, the freedom of said topoor and the nature of said seal allowingmovement between said floors, means between and contacting said iioorsfor spacing them apart and forming a heat transfer passage therebetween,and means including the above elel0 ments for confining between saidoors a fluid

